Racks for stacking flat articles, in particular CD cases or the like, have as a rule a tower-like stand part of up to one meter or more in height. However, the stand part is substantially only of a cross-section corresponding to the size of a CD case. In order to provide sufficient stability the stand part is provided with a base plate which has a considerably larger base area than the base area of the stand part. Since racks of this type are sold and supplied to the consumer packed in boxes, the necessarily large base plate poses a significant packaging problem.
The invention is based on the object of devising a rack of the above-mentioned type, which makes possible simple packing while retaining a large base area and thus good stability for a rack of this type.
This object is achieved according to the invention by a rack for stacking flat articles, in particular cases for disc-type information carriers, having a stand part and a base part, wherein the stand part is provided with substantially horizontally aligned compartments for accommodating the flat articles, wherein the base part is formed by a base plate which can be connected with the stand part and the base area of which is larger than the projection of the stand part on the base plate, which is assembled from at least two base plate parts. A rack designed in this way has the advantage that the base plate can be removed for packing purposes. The base plate is divided into base plate parts which are of such a size that at least in one transverse dimension they do not project over the width of the stand part. Accordingly, the possibility is offered of providing a packaging for the entire rack, the cross-section of which does not exceed or exceeds only to an insignificant extent the cross-section of the stand part. The packaging is then of a length which corresponds substantially to the height of the stand part and is of a cross-section which corresponds substantially to the cross-section of the stand part. The cross-sectional shape of the packaging may in this case be of square or slightly rectangular, circular or even triangular design, so that with uniform length and uniform cross-sectional shape the packagings can be stacked very satisfactorily and can thus be conveyed in large bundles, for example on pallets shrink-wrapped in film or in suitable pallet containers.
In an advantageous development of the invention it is provided for the base plate parts to have on their separating surfaces aligned perpendicularly to the plane of the plate projections and/or recesses associated with one another so that the base plate parts can be joined together in a plug-in form-locking manner.
In an advantageous further development of the invention it is provided for the base plate parts to have recesses in the connection zone with base supports of the stand part. In addition to a form-locking connection of the base plate parts with one another via the base supports fitted into the recesses, there is also a form-locking connection with the stand part, wherein by way of the different form-locking planes the form-locking connection between the base plate parts is fixed by the form-locking connection with the base supports of the stand part. This offers the advantage that in the vicinity of the form-locking connection with the base supports the individual base plates can be fixed directly to the base supports via a separable connection, for example by a screw connection or also by a snap-fit connection or the like.
Further developments of the invention will be evident from the following description of examples of embodiment and from the sub-claims.